THE TRAP OF THE TOP-DOWN APPROACH

Summary from the TLDR Web Dev newsletter

Security consultants often need to quickly understand codebases without extensive coding, but playing with the code is helpful for deeper understanding. A top-down approach to code auditing is flawed because it's a time sink with diminishing returns. Instead, a bottom-up approach is recommended, where focusing on mastering small, self-contained parts of the codebase leads to a more comprehensive understanding and bug discovery.